Letter from Robert Francis Eardley

September 28th, 1999

Jack,

Congratulations on building a truly unique website! Firstly, the Eardleys of the world got together by letters, faxes and phone calls-but now here we are with our own global family information centre on the World Wide Web. I know you will want to share it with everyone who has an Eardley family connection, or indeed anyone in the world who wishes to make a contribution to our website.

It is amazing to see how far this project has come since it began in 1996.From small beginnings, we now have hundreds of letters on file and you, personally, Jack have made thousands of phone calls worldwide. There was the occasion when you in America, myself in Britain, and Eardleys in Perth, Australia held a simultaneous globe-spanning phone conversation a couple of years ago. But that was then. The web is now. I know you have plans to include an Interactive Message Board on the website in a couple of weeks time. Eardleys worldwide will be able to chat to each other in real time, and get to know each other, check their family trees, chat about holidays, or any other topic they please. Also, you mentioned that there would be links to other sites which will help us to make the Millennium Eardley Get-together a success. So , the site will be dynamic and ever-changing. The eardley.org website is to be Family H.Q. for every Eardley in the world. Not only can we keep up to date with all the family news, but also we can contact and chat with each other about every topic under the sun. Already, I notice we have a large and growing database of e-mail Eardleys listed on the site. They are contacting each other in numbers, and once we all get the hang of it, the planet will be buzzing with family chit-chat. If we all tell our relatives about the Eardley.org website, the numbers using the site will grow rapidly. Young Eardleys( and the not so young) can get to know each other, and in this ever-shrinking global village, eventually even host and visit each other. The web provides all of us with the opportunity to undo the ' disconnection ' brought about by the historical events which spread us Eardleys all over the globe, and away from our traditional centre Audley and Stoke-on-Trent, England. We are the first family group to do this, unless you can tell us differently! Every library in Great Britain has internet access w/ free training. So even if you don't have a computer, you can go to your library.

Next year, we all have the chance to get together at noon, July 15th, in St. James' Church, Audley. Already, the North Stafford Hotel in Stoke-directly opposite the railway station, has offered us an attractive deal (click for details). Other local hotels will be approached for similar special arrangements for us. We can let you know as and when they become available.

Manchester is the most convenient airport for long-haul Eardleys. It is only 45 minutes by car from Stoke, and the same time on the direct rail link which runs from the airport to Stoke Railway Station. Eardleys flying into London should make their way to Euston Station, from which frequent trains take approximately 1hr 45mins to reach Stoke.

There are still hundreds of Eardleys here in North Staffordshire and South Cheshire. Perhaps some of them may not only wish to contact other Eardleys who plan on coming over next year, but also to offer to host visitors from as far a field as North America, South Africa, and Australasia- not forgetting Kathy Gamble in Hong Kong!.

We Eardleys can bring this about by letting each other know of our plans on eardley.org. One of the difficulties that we had, Jack, in the past 4 years was that, to be honest, there was such a flood of enquiries and so on, that we couldn't deal with them all. There just weren't enough hours in the day. Now, though, with the family website, we can all help each other. The marriage certificate information from 1837-1900 will make it easy for anyone who has an interest to find out who and where they came from. No matter where we live now, our ancestor is on that list. There may be a few who got away, and the Irish Eardleys will have more distant connections going back to the 1600's. However, speaking generally, our Great-Grandparents will be there, listed on the site-AND IT'S ALL FREE!. You, Jack have invested heavily in providing us all with this information. Many Thanks! You must wonder sometimes if it's been cost-effective. I assure you that it has been. No other family in the world has produced anything like this. Others may follow- but we were the first and the best. Here are a few suggestions for Eardleys at large:-

If you want or don't mind an Eardley e-mailing you- post your e-mail address on the site. If you make contact with another Eardley- again let us know via the website. If you are coming to the reunion, let us know who you are and how many are coming. If you find a long-lost relative, let us share in your discovery. Remember, we are all related somewhere along the line.

Whatever we want to do, so long as it furthers the cause, I know you, Jack, will encourage us to do so. I feel sure you want the site to be a hive of Eardley activity. That's what it's there for- so let's use it....often! Tell other Eardleys all about it and show them (even teach them) how to get the best out of it.

Finally, would a new stained glass window be an appropriate gesture for the Eardleys to leave at St. James' Church. Such a window would be a wonderful Eardley millennium memorial. Anyway, it's something we can consider- but time is getting short, and whatever we do, we need to move fairly quickly.

Sincerely,

Robert F.